A woman has been ordered off a plane in the US for wearing a T-shirt showing an expletive next to pictures of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

Lorrie Heasley said she had worn the shirt as a joke. The 32-year-old wanted her parents to see the shirt when they picked her up at the airport in Portland, Oregon.

“I just thought it was hilarious,” she told The Reno Gazette-Journal. “I have cousins in Iraq and other relatives going to war.

“Here we are trying to free another country, and I have to get off a plane - over a T-shirt. That’s not freedom.”

Ms Heasley said she planned to file a civil rights complaint against Southwest Airlines over the incident.

A airline spokeswoman said the shirt became an issue after several passengers complained when the plane stopped over in Reno.

Ms Heasley agreed to cover the expletive with a sweatshirt but this slipped while she was trying to sleep.

She was then ordered to wear her T-shirt inside-out or leave - she chose to leave.

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